TJMAX

What percentage of your calories come from carbs, protien and fats? Why? What works best for you in terms of performance and weight control? TJMAX

Kurt Erlenbach

For me, dieting to loss weight is not conducive to training. If you want to lose weight, eat less junk, eat more good stuff, eat less overall, and add some exercise. Overthinking it by counting where the calories come from sometimes is counterproductive. A good ride will make you hungry, so eating a filling meal with a reasonable calorie level is important. But restricting calories and trying to reach a particular training level at the same time might cause you to fail at both. I suggest hitting your weight goal, and then working on your training goal.

AzTallRider

I shoot for 60/20/20, but it's difficult for me to keep the fat content down and the protein content up. I eat a fair amount of cheese, because it is easy to stock in the work fridge over the weekend, and I don't like hauling lunch in everyday on the bike. I stopped tracking it (I use trainingpeaks.com) when I met my weight goal. Tracking it is a great thing to do, health-wise, but it's a royal pita.

OldsCOOL

I keep the protein levels (animal sources) relatively high and fats as low as possible. Food portions are lessened as are junk foods. Cakes, cookies and pie are a no-no for me right now....at least until this last 15lbs of fat comes off.

TJMAX

AzTallrider: thank you for the tip. I will check out the trainingpeaks.com. I need to track otherwise I end up with too many empty calories, and not enough protein. My background has been more strength training and I used to target about 1.2 grams per pound of lean body weight. That's probably going to have to change as I spend more time riding and less time in the gym. Right now the extra weight is a killer on hills.

cyclinfool

I haven't really looked at the % calories. The tracker I use reports % of RSDA recommendations. I try to keep protein as high or higher than carbs and fiber from carbs high as well. Seems to work.

I seem to be ablet o loose weight and build strength simultaneously as long as the weight loss is slow so my experience is not the same as Kerlenbach's.

RayfromTX

carb 45 protein 30 fat 25. If I take a long ride I up the carbs and lower the protein but still get over 150 gr. of protein on those days. Healthy sources of fat are a necessary part of a balanced diet. Low fat diets are not a good idea and in general food producers replace fat with corn syrup to get the low fat label. Cut out he corn syrup and processed sugar as a rule. I tracked my calories with www.myfitnesspal.com. I lost 60 lbs since last july and am at around 10% body fat now by following these simple guidelines and eating clean as much as possible. Try to confine your shopping to the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid white foods for the most part. Rice, white flour and sugar and potatoes are high in calories, low in nutrients and will not keep you full and satisfied for long. Go for whole grains in moderation, meats or other sources of protein and vegetables and fruits in abundance. Oatmeal with blueberries is the food of the Gods. Don't use the instant kind. Here are the before and after pics.



I lost approximately the weight of one of my nieces in the picture.

AzTallRider

Great job, Ray. Tracking your calories, especially if you include the macronutrient info, is the single biggest success factor in weight loss.

There is a growing body of opinion that sugar truly is evil, especially if it is "free sugar", for want of better word, meaning it isn't in a fiber rich food. Sugar in sodas, pulp-free juices and the like contribute disproportionally to fat in the liver, which contributes to diabetes and heart disease, among other not so good things.

OldsCOOL

If you cut the "good" fat too low your headspins will let you know right quick. Your brain needs some of those fat grams.

By the way.....you said on days of long rides you cut your protein but still take in 150gr? How much protein do you take in on your other days??

And congrats on the great loss of weight....fantastic, in fact.

crtreedude 

I tend to be at 40/30/30 most of the time, but when I need to drop I focus on just protein and fat, very little carbs, assuming I should be tapping into the carbs around my waist...

Be working for more than 10 years this way.

Ridinmurray

Sounds about right, I've done for 3 yrs & lost 54 pounds.

AzTallRider

Weight loss goes extremely well with long base miles, just not as much so with high intensity efforts. Base miles can burn the fat without making you hungry; high intensity efforts tend to make you want to eat, and can limit your total hours of exercise. Doing a 4-5 hour ride at a moderate pace will burn off a lot of fat, without increasing your hunger, and you can do it again soon. If you are riding to maximize performance, then by all means, eat what you need to fuel your body. But if you are riding with aerobic health and weight loss in mind, then hey, not eating helps you achieve the weight loss. Skip the pre-ride meal, and only eat enough during the ride to keep you going.

I couldn't disagree more about the calorie counting. Numerous studies show a direct corellation between logging calories, and achievement of weight loss goals. It is a major success factor, and a great learning aid.

cyclinfool

+1 - tracking calories is a winner. I use fitday.com

esldude

Managed some 120 lbs of weight loss by tracking calories and daily weight. The daily feedback seemed a big help, kept me from fooling myself, and was something of a rewarding thing to do as I saw I was making progress.

I found planning whole meals better. I developed several meals that gave me the macro-nutrient content I wanted at reasonable calories. Then the tracking isn't so tedious. It is less spontaneous as almost all meals are pre-planned. I eat any of the various meals I have planned and don't have to worry about it. So eat any of the combinations making up a meal depending on what suits my fancy any given day, and don't eat in between meals, and it isn't so hard to do. If I do eat off plan, a celebration, like a birthday party or something I don't worry about it. I don't "pig out!!", but I just eat moderate amounts of whatever. As long as I go right back onto eating my pre-planned combinations I am getting toward my goals.

My plan also evolved into eating enough protein for my needs (60 grams/day) and having an equal or lesser amount of fat grams. So all my meal combinations have fat grams equal or less than the protein grams in it. This also helps eating unplanned meals. You can often work one out that fits or comes close to this goal with a few choices once you know what most food adds up like. I long term have averaged about 63% carbs, 25% fat, and 12% protein. Once I got into the habit it has turned out to be much easier than I expected. I have been doing this for 3 years, and it is pretty much second nature by now. Having these guidelines and goals with the daily feedback made it possible for me to change eating habits for the better. That is what you need to succeed is better eating habits and not some temporary diet.

RayfromTX

I mean I cut down on the protein as a percentage. On non workout days I eat around 140 200 gr of protein. On big ride days where I have to take in around 3000 additional calories I allow myself a higher percentage of carbs as that is the stuff of energy.

Elsdude- Way to freakin' go dude. While others stayed in their prison, you broke out. that is so cool man.

OldsCOOL

Gotcha, thanx.

cyclinfool

I went and looked at an average day for me:
Carbs:65%
Protein: 20%
Fat: 15%
35 grams of fiber.

So I am pretty close to AzT.

This works and I can usually loose between 1 and 2 lbs/wk if required. On hard day rides the protein goes up much more than any thing else, I have found my recovery is much faster if I protein load after a ride (Beef Jerky and/or a cliff builder bar with 20g of protein works well).

OldsCOOL

No doubt about it.

TJMAX

Ray, that is truely awesome. Great advice and great results. Your protein intake is higher than I thought it might be for an endurance athlete, almost more in the strength athlete range but obviously it worked exceedingly well for you. What is your body weight if its not too personal. At 150 + grams per day I would think you are taking in a gram or more per pound of lean mass? Thanks for the feedback.

TJMAX